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The One With The Flashback
"The One With The Flashback" is the sixth episode of the third season of Friends, which aired on NBC on October 31, 1996. After the friends reminisce about a time three years ago and some dark secrets are revealed. Plot .]] The episode begins with the group and Janice sitting in the coffeehouse talking. Janice asks who of the group have slept together. When they deny that any of them have, she asks if any of them have "almost...", leading into the flashback. The flashback takes place three years ago (or exactly one year before the premiere). Phoebe has just moved out of Monica's apartment, but hasn't told her. She has been sneaking out every night and sneaking back in every morning, spending the past week at her grandmother's. Chandler is trying to find a new roommate with little luck. He has interviewed a guy with multiple ferrets, a spitter and a guy who mocks Chandler's last name. Of the two people he has left to meet are a photographer named Eric and Joey, who he describes as "this actor guy who I'm not sure about because when he called and I answered the phone 'Chandler Bing', he said 'Whoa, short message'." Ross and Carol are having a problems in their marriage. Ross thinks this is because Carol doesn't have any other friends, but he is optimistic because she just met a woman at the gym, Susan Bunch. The gang hangs out at a bar, owned by someone named Chris. They find out the bar is about to be shut down and turned into a coffee house, which upsets them. Rachel goes to the bar for drinks with her friends. They celebrate the fact that in a year she will marry Barry. Rachel feels hesitant, however saying that she wants one last fling to get it out of her system and wants to have sex with the next guy she sees. Chandler overhears this and immediatly interrupts her conversation. Rachel brushes him off as a loser, but later has a fantasy about having sex with him at the closed bar. Chandler interviews Eric, who turns out to be a fashion photographer and informs Chandler that models would be at the apartment from time to time. He also tells him that during the summer he spends most weekends at his sister's (who is also a porn star) beach house that Chandler is welcome to use. Chandler decides that Eric will be his new roommate and rushes through his interview with Joey. Mr. Heckles makes an appearance as Eric moves in, stating that he is, in fact, Chandler's new roommate despite what he told Eric. He manages to convince Eric of this, leaving Chandler to believe he just never showed up. This leaves Joey as his only option for a roommate and tells the story of how their friendship came to be. ]] Monica is attracted to Joey and invites him into her apartment for some lemonade. Joey takes this to mean that she wants to have sex and strips naked in her apartment. This shocks Monica who really only invited him in for a glass of lemonade. They both are thoroughly embarrassed and even after Joey dresses himself Monica tells him that she can "still see it". Monica notices that Phoebe's bed is missing from her bedroom. After a poor attempt to cover it up, Phoebe admits that she moved out. She says that Monica is too uptight about being neat and that she needs to "live in a land where people can spill". She says that she loves Monica and wanted to stay friends, which she didn't think would be possible if they continued living together. Monica accepts this. Ross meets Phoebe at the bar, where they are the only two people there. Chris gave Phoebe the keys to lock up. Ross reveals to Phoebe that Carol is a lesbian. Phoebe consoles him, which leads to them kissing, which then leads to them attempting to have sex on the pool table. After a slew of obstacles (Ross hitting his head on the hanging lights, the pool balls getting in the way, Ross's foot getting stuck in one of the pockets) they realize that it would be a bad idea. The gang walks in and they act like nothing is going on. Ross tells the rest of the group that Carol is a lesbian, to which Joey says "Cool!". This is the first time Ross and Phoebe ever meet Joey. Cast and Crew Main Cast Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green Courteney Cox - Monica Geller Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing David Schwimmer - Ross Geller Supporting Cast Larry Hankin - Mr. Heckles John Lehr - Eric Michele Maika - Kiki Marissa Ribisi - Betsy Maggie Wheeler - Janice Christy L. Medrano - Waitress Crew Directed By: Peter Bonerz Written By: Marta Kauffman & David Crane Trivia References to other episodes *Phoebe states that Cute Naked Guy has been starting to put on weight. *The gang hangs out at a bar that is closing down to become a coffee shop. This upsets them and Chandler wonders where they will hang out from now on. *When Chandler informs Monica that he picked Eric as his new roommate, she is upset saying "but he's so cute!" (referring to Joey). Chandler replies "That's what I want. A roommate I can walk around with and be referred to as 'the funny one'." *A waitress at the bar messes up Rachel and her friends' orders. Rachel says to her friends "I mean how hard is it to get a couple drinks right, huh?" poking fun at the running joke that Rachel always brings to wrong order to customers. *After Rachel suggests that she and Monica have lunch the next time she's in the city, Monica comments to Chandler "ten bucks says I never see that woman again in my life." General *Rachel's friend Kiki, played by Michele Maika, also appeared in "The One With George Stephanopoulos". *This is the final appearance of Larry Hankin as Mr. Heckles. Interestingly enough, this is the only character whose last appearance takes place posthumously (i.e. after his death). *Marissa Ribisi is the sister of Giovanni Ribisi, who has a recurring role of Phoebe's half-brother Frank Jr. Goofs/Continuity *Although it is seen in this episode that Joey moved in with Chandler a year before the show began, in 1993, in The One With All The Thanksgivings, it is shown shows that Joey was with the rest of the gang back in 1992. *When Rachel comes back into the bar at the end of the episode, although he's in shadow you can see that Chandler has shaved his beard. Although technically as it's a day dream it could be what Rachel prefers... *In this episode, Joey says that he's "okay with the whole gay thing" when he meets Chandler. However, in "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" Joey says he didn't think Chandler was gay when they first met. *Captioning and dialogue established the flashback portion of this episode to take place one year before the series pilot (Rachel tells her friends that in one year she'll marry Barry). This episode also features Ross discovering Carol is a lesbian and in love with Susan. Though not imposible, it's unlikely that Ross and Carol would continue the sexual portion of their relationship, however in the series proper Ross discovers Carol is pregnant early in the first season and she gives birth to Ben several episodes into the season. Either this epiosde takes place closer than one year to the pilot or Carol gestated Ben for over a year. However, Ross says in one episode that he had a lot of great times with Carol before she became a lesbian, before saying he did once after that too, suggesting that after breaking up Ross and Carol slept together once, which is possibly how Ben was conceived. *Ross has no problem to have sex with Pheobe in the bar though Carol is the only woman with wich Ross ever had sex. In season 2, it's not easy for Ross to have sex with Julie. 'Episode Navigation' Category:Friends Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes